Toronto native makes long-awaited return to annual jazz fest

Jazz saxophonist Warren Hill makes a long-awaited third appearance at the Beaches International Jazz Festival this Saturday. Though the Toronto-born, U.S.-based altoist hasn’t played the event in more than a decade, he gets back here regularly for the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, where he is a routine winner, and to visit his parents and siblings. Noted for a versatile mix that incorporates new age, pop, funk and rock, Hill is a prolific composer who has collaborated with the likes of Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan and Big Mountain. The Star spoke with the 44-year-old musician from his new home in L.A.

What prompted relocation to California after 10 years in Boulder, Colo.?

We moved out here because of my daughter Olivia’s career. Things are taking off for her and this is where she needs to be for the kind of stuff that she’s doing. She acts and sings.

You must’ve made showbiz look pretty good if she’s already hooked at 11.

We’re not forcing her, she’s a natural. At 2 years old, she asked if she could come on stage during a gig I was doing in Chicago, because she wanted to sing her favourite song from Snow White — “Someday My Prince Will Come.” She just walked out, did it, got a standing ovation. When the opportunity was right, I’d let her come on stage since then. Now she’s singing “God Bless the Child” with the full band. When she does her thing, pretty much I don’t have anything to follow it with.

I hear you’re working on your 12th album; does it have a specific theme or concept?

Stylistically, the records I’ve made in the past are the best records that I can make and I don’t want to try to do the same thing again. I’m planning on making a fairly significant departure. I’m not so self-indulgent that I don’t realize I have fans out there that enjoy what I do, so I have to respect them, because without them I wouldn’t be paying the bills, but, hopefully, they have the same mutual respect and know that I want to keep challenging myself.

What are we talking about — odd meters, hard rock, more singing?

I’m in the experimental phase, so I haven’t been able to label it yet. I’ve been meeting with different people to write songs to see if they inspire me in different ways. There are some elements of my musicianship that have not been fully represented or explored. That’s where I’m trying to push the envelope. Say I wanted to go more straight-ahead, for example? The presentation will be different, but the instrumentation, production, the way I’m playing on it, to the average person at the end of the day is just going to sound like a saxophone; they won’t necessarily recognize the nuances.

Do you think being in L.A. will influence the new direction?

If anything, it’s probably going to add more angst to my music, because I can’t stand driving in traffic. All the songs will start off fast and then they’ll slow down dramatically, then speed up again, then slow down again. . .

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